Nuclear disaster in the Urals

Based on items of personal knowledge and on a critical examination of the open report literature, the author establishes the probable occurrence of a major radiation accident in late 1957 or early 1958 in the Chelyabinsk region of the Urals. The reports published deal with contamination of lakes, fish, soil, mammals, birds, insects and trees by cesium 137 and strontium 90. The levels of contamination and the numbers of animals sampled lead him to assume that the source of the accident was radioactive wastes from plutonium producing reactors which had been inadequately disposed of, and that the contaminated area was of the order of 100 sq.km. Relevant CIA documents released are reproduced. (JIW)